July 22, 2003 - The Artist In The Ambulance

It's a double release day! On the same day as my last release and sixteen months after "The Illusion Of Safety", Thrice released their third album "The Artist In The Ambulance" on July 22, 2003. This would be Thrice's major label debut, but they still play the same mix of heavier, hardcore punk and a pop-y, catchier side. Let's see what the latest from Thrice has to offer!

The album begins with "Cold Cash And Colder Hearts" and they jump right into a pretty heavy and cool main riff with Teppei Teranishi playing some nice stop-and-start guitar and Dustin Kensrue singing a solid verse overtop. Kensrue and Teranishi both play some great guitar on this shorter song and midway through the second round they quiet things down very epicly as Kensrue sings nice and high, then they return to the heavy main riff and close out the song with a fantastic heavy part with Kensrue screaming at the top of his lungs  and sounding awesome! A pretty good way to wrap up this pretty cool opener! Up next is "Under A Killing Moon" and Kensrue starts us off with a solid rhythm guitar riff before everyone else comes slamming in to complete this fast-paced and pretty cool main riff. Kensrue sings/yells overtop and he sounds pretty good no matter what style of vocals he's using. Teranishi's lead guitar is heavy and great in the verse and it's pretty catchy in the chorus, sounding solid there too! Kensrue delivers the last line of the chorus really well as he screams "and watch the witches BURN". After another solid round they enter into the closing riff of this short song and Kensrue sounds amazing once again holding some nice long screams. Another fantastic finish to a pretty sweet tune! Track 3 is the album's only single "All That's Left" and Riley Breckenridge leads the way with a catchy drum beat while Kensrue sets the stage with a nice rhythm guitar riff. When Eddie and Teppei come slamming in another cool main riff comes into shape with some headbanging and cool lead guitar and Kensrue sings a great, catchy verse that fits the rhythm nicely. The chorus has some fast and pretty sweet guitars and Kensrue sings a very pop-y chorus overtop that is pretty catchy, but decidedly not heavy. I can see why this was chosen as the single, and don't get me wrong, it's still a cool song, but it's clearly meant to be a little more accessible than their usual stuff. Still lots of cool guitars though! The next track is "Silhouette" and it's driven by a slow, but hard-hitting and pretty heavy main riff and Kensrue nicely sings opposite the heavy guitars with some nice high, long-held notes in his singing. They slam very nicely into a heavy chorus with Kensrue screaming very nicely and even some chugging, almost thrash-y guitars. It's a pretty sweet chorus and they segue really smoothly back into the slower verse as well. After another great round they nicely finish things off as well and this was a banger the whole way through! The high quality of songs continues with track 5, "Stare At The Sun", and they set this one up really nicely with a slow rhythm guitar riff by Kensrue and a pretty catchy drum beat by Riley. Eddie enters with some really sweet bass then Kensrue sings the first verse nicely overtop. Teranishi finally joins in as they move to the chorus and he plays a pretty cool, pretty fast lead guitar riff while Kensrue holds plenty of nice long notes in this pretty catchy chorus. After another solid round they nicely set up a new riff that is similar but different and it perfectly leads into a final chorus to predictably but solidly finish things off. Up next is "Paper Tigers" and Riley plays some great drums as they work their way into one hell of a heavy and cool main riff. Eddie's bass is thundering in the background, Teranishi is playing some great lead guitar and Kensrue is just belting out the verse and his screams sound so hardcore! Kensrue pulls double duty in the chorus as we hear him singing in the background while continuing to scream a fantastic chorus overtop some slightly trippy and pretty cool guitars. I live the constant screaming on this one and it's just relentlessly heavy! Even the space-y chorus somehow fits with Kensrue's screams and I love every bit of this one, including another phenomenal finish to things...or so it would seem. The final 35 seconds is just some super trippy keyboards of some sort that is nit bad by any means, but it's very unusual for what the rest of the albuk has been and it just kinda takes the air out of what was another really cool song! Track 7 is "Hoods On Peregrine" and the rhythm section nicely kicks us off with Eddie playing a nice bass riff before Kensrue plays the same riff on rhythm guitar and Teranishi completes another cool main riff with some nice lead guitar. Kensrue sings a solid verse overtop followed by a solid chorus as well where he holds some nice long notes. Kensrue screams a few sweet lines before they return to the main riff for the next round, then they do the whole process again. After the next solid round Kensrue closes out the song with a final screaming part and these guys just don't know how to write sub-par music on this album, everything sounds great! The next track is "The Melting Point Of Wax" and it's got a nice heavy rhythm section with Teranishi playing some fast and pretty cool lead guitar overtop and Kensrue sings a slightly pop-y but still pretty solid verse. The chorus follows in a similar vein and I'm surprised this one wasn't a single as there are no screaming vocals at all and a pretty pop-y and catchy chorus. After another solid round Teranishi leads a brief new part as Kensrue holds some nice long notes, then they slam nicely into a final chorus. Track 9 is "Blood Clots And Black Holes" and Teranishi is really tearing it Up on this one with a fast and very cool main riff. The rhythm section is heavy and solid backing it and things quickly move into a pretty catchy verse that is fast to match the music. Things roll right into a similar chorus and I'm happily banging my head the whole way as there is a ton of cool guitar packed into this short song. After another round Kensrue holds a few long screams  and he sounds fucking fantastic! What a phenomenal way to wrap things up! Up next is the title track "The Artist In The Ambulance" and even though it was never a single, it has become one of Thrice's most popular songs and it's another one that is a little surprising it wasn't a single since it's so damn catchy! Kensrue jumps right into the first verse and the lyrics are all about being in a car accident, but being saved by the paramedics, or the artists in the ambulance! Not only are the lyrics  and Kensrue's singing, really well done and really accessible, Teranishi is playing some pretty sweet guitar throughout and words are not doing proper justice to just how much cool guitar he plays on this song (and this whole album).  This whole song is just unbelievably catchy, but also very punk rock still and it's pretty much the perfect single, how was it not one! Track 11 is "The Abolition Of Man" and it starts off with a bouncing, upbeat riff with Kensrue singing nicely, then they slam very suddenly and heavily into a new riff with some hard-hitting guitars and screams by Kensrue, I approve! The chorus is slightly repetitive but still pretty solid, but the verse is just fantastic! After another round Teranishi takes us to a new part with a cool new guitar riff and Kensrue is just screaming everything he's got overtop and I love his raw emotion, he sounds so heavy and awesome! A short, but very very awesome song! The final song on the album is "Don't Tell And We Won't Ask" and it's driven by another fairly catchy and pretty cool main riff. Teranishi leads the way with lots more cool guitar and Kensrue sounds solid singing overtop and both of those go for the chorus as well! After a couple rounds they slow things down as they start to bring things to a close and by the end we are at a crawl as the song finally comes to a halt.

That is the end of "The Artist In The Ambulance" and I thought it was a fantastic album by Thrice! There are absolutely no weak points at all over the twelve songs and most of them are pretty sweet, with a couple being really awesome! I think it blows their debut album out of the water and even though their last album "The Illusion Of Safety" was really good too, this album is on a whole other level of awesome. Can Thrice possibly keep getting even better?!